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Author	Topic: save the hallmark!
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 04-21-2011 01:54 PM quote: save the hallmark! There is a real danger that hallmarking in the UK could be abolished as part of a new initiative launched by the Government on 7 April 2011 called the Red Tape Challenge. To prevent this 700 year old tradition disappearing overnight, The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office urges you to register your support for hallmarking on the Red Tape website: link gone from the Internet (redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/hallmarking/) Background The Red Tape Challenge has started by examining the retail sector and asking the electorate for their views on topics as diverse as ‘Sunday Trading’ and ‘Trading with the Enemy’. The aim is to reduce regulation which stifles enterprise and industry. The message from the Government appears to be that every regulation highlighted will be abolished – unless visitors to the website express sufficient good reasons to convince Ministers that this particular regulation must be kept. Hallmarking is among the eight key topics on which the population is invited to air their views from now until 5th May 2011. There are other important topics there too, of huge significance to retailers and consumers. We believe it is imperative to the British consumer for the current and future UK Jewellery Industry to maintain hallmarking as a statutory independent service. For further information on the importance of hallmarking and why it should be saved download our document ‘The Case for Hallmarking’ here. You only have until 5th May 2011 to reply and help to save hallmarking - PLEASE ACT NOW! Thank you for your support. Dr Robert M Organ Deputy Warden IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 04-21-2011 02:27 PM quote: Dear London Silver Society Member, THIS NEEDS YOUR URGENT ATTENTION. A new challenge has arisen to our hallmarking system. As part of its drive to reduce bureaucracy, the Government has ordered a review of a number of organizations and systems as part of its Red Tape Challenge, and regrettably, one of its targets is our long established hallmarking system, which is considered to be the most effective in the world. Not only can one trace any article of silver or gold to the exact year it was made and the person who made it, it has been a guarantee of quality known throughout the world for nearly a thousand years, and is the current benchmark standard for silver (.925 Sterling). To register your protest against this suggestion, please follow this link to help prevent the destruction of this crucial part of our history; it will take just a few seconds to register your support for hallmarking on the Red Tape website. Please note that the deadline is 5th May for submissions, so don't delay visiting the site: link gone from the internet Please do also forward this message on to your friends, family, and anyone else you think might be interested in this issue. Best wishes, Jonathan Gray Hon Secretary London Silver Society IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 04-21-2011 02:34 PM Is this important enough that we send a message/link to Silver Salon Members via email? Of course only SSF members who have opted in to get email from the Silver Salon Forums will be sent the email. Even so, it will be several thousand. IP: Logged
swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 Registered: May 2003	posted 04-21-2011 02:38 PM It seems that there, as well as here, the younger generations have less and less respect for traditions, let alone the wisdom of doing anything the way their forebears did. Dire economic times don't help either - governments are looking to "trim fat" by cutting "unnecessary expenditures" wherever they can. So we are seeing one more protest - remember the old saying "it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease." One has to wonder though whether they will pay any attention to the opinions of no UK citizens. [This message has been edited by swarter (edited 04-21-2011).] IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 04-21-2011 02:52 PM We don't want to be mistaken as a SPAMmer, so we don't send email very often to our SSF registered users. I would like to hear from a few more persons in this thread or via email about whether to send the message out. IP: Logged
agphile Posts: 798 Registered: Apr 2008	posted 04-21-2011 03:40 PM UK members of this forum are likely, because of their interest in silver, to have been alereted to this by a range of contacts including Goldsmiths Hall so I am not sure another email would necessarily help, but at the least it would do no harm. I would certainly want to encourage folk to register their views IP: Logged
adelapt Posts: 418 Registered: May 2003	posted 04-21-2011 09:36 PM I think responses, even from outside the UK, would be well worthwhile. The information has been circulated to members of the Silver Society of Australia. For the sake of the British, the hallmarking system has given them a very useful "edge" or marketing advantage, and that would be lost if the sytem was disbanded. Those who trade in silverware from the UK, wherever they are, would eventually feel the loss. Less likely to cut any ice with the bureacracy, but important to many of us, is the art/historical aspect of the system. As many US respondents to the appeal for support have put it, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." IP: Logged
jersey Posts: 1203 Registered: Feb 2005	posted 04-21-2011 09:56 PM Hello Scott. I too saw this the other day but computer was down & could not post the info. I knew you would be aware of it. I just can't comprehend the why of it. I know the manufacturers & silversmiths must be besides themselves. Jersey IP: Logged
hannahl Posts: 11 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 04-21-2011 10:37 PM Hello there. Just received your email and I'm all set to sign the petition. When I got to the site however, they asked for ID of the regulation in question--a number of hallmark laws are listed in a link, the most recent 2007. What is it necessary to write in? IP: Logged
adelapt Posts: 418 Registered: May 2003	posted 04-22-2011 12:09 AM It is not really necessary to go through the link on that site and trawl through the regulations they mention. As you scroll down on that page you'll see there have been over 3,000 entries already, some from within the precious metals trades, but many from those who see the problem from the outside. I you read some of those, they could act as a guide. If you can give good reasons for your response, one would assume it would get a better reception than a "knee jerk - me too" kind. Good luck with it! IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 04-22-2011 07:44 AM It not necessary to provide the ID of the regulation. This is indicated in the second sentence. quote: Please enter the name of the specific regulation(s) you would like to comment on. *If you are leaving a general comment, leave this field blank* IP: Logged
agphile Posts: 798 Registered: Apr 2008	posted 08-10-2011 06:59 PM Good news. Thanks to the volume of representations I gather that the government has decided that the hallmarking regulations are a "good thing" and will therefore remain. IP: Logged
June Martin Forum Master Posts: 1343 Registered: Apr 93	posted 08-10-2011 10:54 PM Hooray! At least some semblance of sanity in this crazy world of ours. IP: Logged

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